As used herein, a “wearable” light unit refers to a light unit that is lightweight, self-contained and capable of attachment to or incorporation into garments, such as shirts, pants, shoes, hats, gloves and the like, or attachment to a person's body, such as in the form of eyeglasses or a head band, while providing the desired visual effect. A “wearable” light unit should afford a user natural, comfortable and unrestricted movement, and be durable even when the user is engaged in sudden or intense movements.
Clothing incorporating light-producing elements can greatly enhance the experience for viewers. At a rock concert, for instance, stunning visual effects produced by lighted costumes can draw attention to the performers even at a considerable distance.
Due to a unique set of constraints, it has not been possible through prior art to control lighted garments with all the tools and protocols used to control conventional lighting fixtures. It is desirable to have a device that can provide such control in order to bring a lighted garment into synchrony with its environment: with scene lighting, with music, with other lighted garments, and so on. Such a device is also desirable because it enables other interactive scenarios not possible with prior art devices.
Methods of constructing lighted garments independent of an electronic control device are well-known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,008 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,019,438 disclose methods of embedding light-emitting elements and their supporting electronics into clothing. U.S. Pat. No. 6,848,803 discloses the use of optical tubing to convey light from a central source to various exit points in a garment. U.S. Pat. No. 6,964,493 discloses a method of affixing lighting elements to a garment in a way that permits easy washing of the garment, while U.S. Pat. No. 7,144,127 discloses a safety vest with embedded electroluminescent (EL) strips. Methods of powering EL wires from a low voltage DC power source are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,141 (Motorola). Methods of powering and dimming LEDs suitable for us with low voltage power sources are disclosed for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 7,315,135.
Certain specialized control systems for lighted apparel are also known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 4,875,144 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,745 disclose different methods for creating illuminated animations in a garment using minimal electronic control circuitry. U.S. Pat. No. 6,843,578 discloses a method of controlling lighted clothing, in particular footwear, via a combination of sensors which react to light, movement, and orientation. These prior art devices aim to make lighted apparel more engaging for the viewer by varying the light produced according to preprogrammed sequences, or in response to simple external stimuli, but they fail to disclose a mechanism for remote control of the lighting elements.
Various methods for incorporating general purpose computing devices into clothing are also known in the art, for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,490, U.S. Pat. No. 6,243,870, U.S. Pat. No. 6,324,053, U.S. Pat. No. 6,381,482, U.S. Pat. No. 6,563,424 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,895,261. These all relate to the field of “wearable computing,” where the intent is to distribute all the components of a computer—a processor, long term storage, a user interface, input devices, a communications module, etc.—throughout the various articles of clothing worn by a person. These methods are unsuitable for the present purpose for a number of reasons. They do not address the specific need of powering and controlling lighting elements. They also incorporate components that are not needed for the present purpose and merely make the resulting lighted garment bulkier and more fragile, when what is needed in the present domain is a garment and control system which minimally restricts movement and/or covering, while providing the maximum durability during sudden or intense movements, such as those that might occur during a dance sequence.
Conventional, i.e. non-wearable, lighting fixtures that have remote control capabilities are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,809,652, U.S. Pat. No. 6,517,216 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,027,736. These devices are generally unsuitable for the present purpose because they are not miniaturized or lightweight enough to be wearable, and because they are designed to control high power lights used to illuminate a scene from a distance, not lower power lights that can be worn on a person's body and are intended for direct viewing.
Examples of wireless lighting control systems and protocols known to the prior art shown, for instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,300,727, U.S. Pat. No. 6,548,967, U.S. Pat. No. 6,801,003, U.S. Pat. No. 7,126,291 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,748,878. None of the foregoing patents disclose lighting systems or methods for powering and remotely controlling low power wearable light units.
There exists a need for a light control system and method that provides wearable light units that are remotely controlled via Internet protocols and easily installed in various configurations on or into a variety of garment types, and affords a uniform method of controlling disparate types of lighting elements in such light units.